Fjell. With all due respect you seem to be conflating two different issues. On the one hand we have a 2000 Act of parliament which increases public access to certain land. All parties, including Defra, NE, NRW, BCA etc accept the law needs clarifying on whether it includes caving. That is the focus of our efforts with the campaign and the JR case. If this is clarified in favour of caving then this will set in law a legal right of access to cave in over 2500 caves including 71% of all caves across the three northern caves guide books and a number in the other regions. That is a worthwhile goal.
On the other hand we have a new bill to replace the Common agricultural policy brought about by Brexit and cutting our ties with the EU. Somehow farmers and landowners are going to need the huge sums of public money they rely on through a different route than at European level. Hence ELMS, the environmental land management scheme. This proposes to pay subsides in a different way which should include access to land. Gove, if you can believe anything he says, as environment minister, stated that public money should be paid for public good and that included public access. We shall see how that turns out. The BCA has such limited resources compared to larger outdoor organisations that it has struggled to get caving represented. The one, all outdoor, team meeting I attended was struggling to define a financial value for public access, how much for allowing access to water, to a crag etc. It would strike me as odd that we would pay public money for access rights we already hold, footpaths, bridleways or to access land. Hence gaining a legal right of access rather than paying for it is important. Never the less the BCA does need to represent caving at ELMS level which unfortunately they have not really done since the meeting I attended on their behalf over two years ago. Hopefully the new C&A officer is on the case.